ram style bender

Hi!

I just bought a ram style tube bender and I tried bending a 2 inch diameter exhaust pipe and the bend was so crappy! it was as if the tube was bent by hand without a die.

What can I do to make satisfactory bends with this bender?

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Here's a bender similar to the one I have.

Reply to
moreairguns
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That's a cheap bender. If you want to use that then the best thing you can do is fill the pipe with sand. Plug the sand with rags or whatever you can, and the bend it.

Reply to
tnom

Okay thanks for the advice. Would that significantly reduce the crumples in the bends? I was thinking of doing that....but should the pipe be welded shut to keep the sand in?

Well, maybe not welded shut but at least tightly sealed.

I was also reading about cerrobend but I don't think anyone in my country sells that.

Reply to
moreairguns

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It's been a long time since I was in the exhaust business, but it could be that the pipe you are using isn't bendable. For example, you can't go out and buy a Walker exhaust pipe and then try to put a bend in it. You need to buy bendable pipe like they use in muffler shops.

For hard to find parts

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Reply to
mike

I was unaware of cerrabend but it sounds like a good investment if you plan on bending a lot of pipes. Another suggestion would be fill the pipe with pea gravel. I've never used it but pea gravel should have much more staying power than sand.

Reply to
tnom

ya, Cerrobend might be good since it's metal but it melts at low temperatures.....temperatures of boiling water. I wonder how hard that thing is when solid.

Mike, is the ram bender any good? I was thinking that it just could be a waste of money. It's not like the ones they use in muffler shops where the tubing is sandwiched between two dies. My ram bender has just 1 die in one side which pushes through the tubing to make the bend.

Reply to
moreairguns

I've noticed that pipes via muffler shops tend to be 'tail pipe' quality for both exhaust pipes and tail pipes. Since I've never actually worked with the benders and bendable pipes, I have to rely on what I've seen in the bending and mentally recalling how long pipes, both tail- and exhaust-pipes (and mufflers) last. The distinguishing difference between tail and exhaust pipes I am using is as follows: tail pipes are those extending from muffler outlet to its exit from under the car; and exhaust means those pipes extending from engine to inlet of muffler. I've also noticed the muff. shops tend to use the same tubing for both. (If I'm wrong, then pls. correct me.) That tubing seems to be thinner than oem tail pipes and MUCH thinner than oem exhaust pipes. As I see it, exhaust pipes need to be thicker to prevent premature burnout; and tail pipes can be somewhat thinner. This due to exhaust handling much hotter exhaust gases than the further-back tail pipes. That said, the thinner the walls of the tubing--all else being equal--the easier it is to bend. So, if their hydraulic benders are as strained as they seem with thinner tubing, it's no wonder you and your bender were taxed on a 'real' piece of tubing. Time to practice on a piece of the 'easy' stuff and see what it does. s

Reply to
sdlomi2

Isn't it the other way around?

Isn't it easier to make bends with tubes/pipes with thicker walls?

going extremes, if you bend a solid round bar by hand, you'd still get good bends, right?

maybe the wall thickness to tube diameter ratio is to small.... the wall is too thin for the given tube diameter..... unless I have a mandrel or rotary bender, I wouldn't be able to make good bends.

hmmmm..... better try using sand or better, CerroBend.

Reply to
moreairguns

Thicker tubing is easier to bend without "d"s and creases. But only if you use the right equipment.

Reply to
Steve Austin

Hi moreairguns, yes you ARE correct. I was erroneously thinking of "easier" as meaning "with less force"--where you meant *easier to make good bends*, just as you said, and my mind immediately shut down after the thought of *easier* entered its apparently small space. Would rather think it was merely from my having a bad day(; s

Reply to
sdlomi2

--Here's a link to the kind of tube bender I've got:

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--I added my own hydraulics, which saved a bundle. The trick to bending *tube* without buckling it is to use thecorrect kind of bending dies; i.e. there should be three points supportingthe workpiece, all of them formed to match the diameter of the tubing.Here's an example of the ones mine uses:
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When you decide to buy a decent bender pay attention to how muchyou'll need to shell out for die sets: some companies really sock it to you,heh.

Reply to
steamer

I am planning to buy one. Even just the Manual Rotary type. (Model 3) but I'm just not sure if they sell those things here in the Philippines.

probably, I will need to have it shipped from the US to Philippines.

got:

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--I added my own hydraulics, which saved a bundle.> The trick to bending *tube* without buckling it is to use the> correct kind of bending dies; i.e. there should be three points supporting> the workpiece, all of them formed to match the diameter of the tubing.> Here's an example of the ones mineuses:
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When you decide to buy a decent bender pay attention to how much> you'll need to shell out for die sets: some companies really sock it to you,> heh.

Reply to
moreairguns

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